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Home > All Recipes > Delicious French Dessert Recipes

French Religieuse Cakes

Published: Sep 23, 2021 · Modified: Feb 4, 2025 by Judith Coates · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

Cream puffs dressed a little differently to enjoy for holiday celebrations and everyday treats.
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Three cream puffs covered in buttercream icing in various flavors cherry, butterscotch, and chocolate.

Pâtissière Religieuse

This is a divine cream puff that is celebrated throughout France as a wonderful little religious cake called Pâtissière Religieuse. They are individually handmade with choux pastry in the likeness of "plump nuns". There are many ways to build pastry parts into delectable treats like these Choux Buns (Profiteroles), or Paris Brest, using French creations like Crème Pâtissière, and Pastry Dough.

Three cream puffs covered in buttercream icing in various flavors cherry, butterscotch, and chocolate.

❤️About This Recipe

These popular sweets are crafted with one larger puff on the bottom and a smaller one on top. A layer or two of whipped cream in between the puffs, then topped with strategically drizzled ganache. The layers are tied together with drizzle icing or buttercream icing in various flavors and colors of the baker's choice.

However, this is home cooking so we will be forgiven for not being quite as professional as the great chefs, but I can assure you they will be absolutely gorgeous to eat.

The name Religieuse originally came from the violet color of the Cardinal's robes. Today they are often made in pink with rose-flavored icing and whipped cream filling, chocolate flavored, coffee flavor, or anything you like.

If you have seen them in the shops in Paris you will know how appealing they are.

A cream puff topped with chocolate buttercream frosting.

You have probably seen eclairs in bake shops and these luscious cream puffs are the same wonderful taste, just dressed differently.

Additional Pastry Recipes To Revel In

  • Rough Puff Pastry Recipe
  • Paris Brest Recipe An Exceptional Cake
  • Pastry Cream Recipe Perfection
  • Millefeuille A French Dessert Classic

📖 Recipe

Three cream puffs covered in buttercream icing in various flavors cherry, butterscotch, and chocolate.

Religieuse Cakes

Judith Coates
Cream puffs dressed a little differently to enjoy for holiday celebrations and everyday treats.
Print Recipe Pin
Prep Time 25 minutes mins
Cook Time 27 minutes mins
Cooling & Assembling 30 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 22 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 12 puffs

Ingredients

Make These First

  • Choux pastry For instructions
  • 1 cup (8tbsp/113gr) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
  • ½ cup (120ml)water
  • ½ cup (120ml) 2% or whole milk
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk or water
  • Crème pâtissière For instructions
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 oz (50 gram/¼ cup) castor sugar
  • 1 oz (25 gr/¼ cup) plain flour
  • ½ pt (1 cup) milk
  • A few drops of vanilla essence/extract (optional)

For The Icing

  • icing sugar
  • a little water
  • flavorings of your choice, see notes

Instructions
 

  • Make the Choux Pastry
  • Make the Crème pâtissière
    .
  • When you have made your choux pastry, spoon the batter out or use a piping bag to form the pastries onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Make some bigger for the bottoms and some smaller for the tops. Perhaps using a dessert spoon for the bottoms and a teaspoon for the tops.
  • Place sheet in the oven for 15-20 minutes depending on the size, until golden brown.
  • When they are done baking, allow to cool completely before filling with the flavor of your choice.
  • When the crème pâtissière has cooled down, flavor it with a few drops of rose water and a drop of pink coloring and simply fill your puffs with the cream, or use whatever flavoring you like. (see notes for suggestions)
  • For the icing simply add your flavor and color to some icing sugar with a few drops of water. Mix until you have the right consistency which should be nice and thick but not too dry as you need to either spread it on your buns, or dip your buns in it or drizzle it on your buns.
  • When it has set, pipe some icing between the two buns.
  • When the icing has dried your lovely Religieuse cakes are ready to eat!

Notes

 
  • I have entered 12 as the number of puffs that can be made with this recipe, but this all depends on how big you make each one.
Flavorings
  • chocolate powder or cooled melted chocolate pieces, cooled coffee or instant coffee powder, almond and/or vanilla extract, fruit flavor from fruit liquors, caramel flavor from caramel sauce thickened with icing sugar
Keyword cream puffs, eclairs, french pastries, religieuse, religious cakes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Enchanté, je suis Judith

Owner, home chef, food writer, & creator of this website where I share my collection of appetizing French cuisine recipes. My goal is to remove all your misconceptions about French food being too finicky or too saucy, it's simply wonderful everyday eating! So, let us get cooking!

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